19 November, 2019

NHS Supply Chain: Food Appoints New Distribution Partner

Posted on 19 November, 201929 July, 2025 by Keith McKinley

NHS Supply Chain: Food, the organisation responsible for the sourcing and supply of food for NHS trusts across England, has appointed Bidfood as its new distribution partner for the multi-temperature framework. The contract will run for two years, with the option to extend for a further two years.

The partnership between NHS Supply Chain: Food and Bidfood creates a national route to market for all NHS Supply Chain food deliveries, with fresh, chilled, frozen and ambient products to be transported on specialist multi-temperature lorries.

Rona Miranda, Account Director, NHS Supply Chain: Food, said: “The appointment of Bidfood as our distribution partner represents a transformational change for NHS Supply Chain and the NHS as a whole. This deal means NHS trusts will be able to order all of their food products from one approved portal and have them delivered via one approved supplier, supporting the very essence of the NHS Supply Chain Operating Model. Our new national route to market enables the consolidation of all food categories to provide greater levels of transparency, pricing standardisation, efficiencies and of course, savings.”

Currently, NHS Supply Chain’s network is set up to deliver ambient products only, meaning other products have to be ordered through alternative frameworks and delivered separately.

The NHS claims this new national route to market will also mean it is better positioned to contract directly with growers, producers and manufacturers. “This makes it possible for small and medium sized suppliers to deliver their products into the new food logistics partner for onward delivery to NHS trusts across the country.” it said.

Ordering with the new multi-temperature food distribution partner is due to commence in Spring 2020. Over 40 NHS Trusts will go live as part of phase one before the new model becomes available for all NHS trusts.

The appointment follows an extensive Public Contract Regulations 2015 procurement process where applicants were assessed on a range of criteria such as their financial stability, technical compliance and fleet specifications.

TIP Canadian Acquisition Given Thumbs-Up by Competition Authorities

Posted on 19 November, 2019 by Keith McKinley

TIP Trailer Services has been given the go-ahead by Canadian competition authorities to proceed with the acquisition of Trailer Wizards, a leading supplier of trailer rental and leasing services in Canada. This follows the announcement of the proposed acquisition in September. The deal is now expected to be finalised in January 2020.

The acquisition of Trailer Wizards will make TIP one of the leading trailer service providers in Canada, it says, further diversifying its geographic footprint, expanding its service offering and broadening its customer base. TIP first expanded from Europe into Canada in 2016 with the purchase of Train Trailer. The acquisition of Trailer Wizards will add 21 locations, over 400 employees and a diversified fleet of over 23,000 units in Canada. At the closing of the acquisition Train Trailer Rentals and Trailer Wizards will both be part of the TIP Group and will be fully integrated over time.

Following the transaction, TIP’s Canadian division will have a combined fleet of over 33,000 trailers, reefers, chassis and flatbed/drop-deck configurations. The company will employ a staff of over 500 people, including approximately 300 mechanics, throughout almost 30 locations in Canada from Prince Edward Island to British Columbia.

Airbus Picks GEFCO to Manage Reusable Packaging

Posted on 19 November, 201931 July, 2025 by David Priestman

GEFCO has signed an agreement with Airbus to support its transition to a cleaner, more environmentally friendly supply chain. GEFCO will gradually replace Airbus’ disposable packaging with reusable, foldable containers. The move demonstrates both companies’ commitment to meeting the strictest environmental standards while boosting efficiency in the aviation sector.

GEFCO has managed new Airbus reusable packaging since January 2019 designed to transport components from Airbus suppliers in Europe to 10 assembly plants in France, Germany, Spain and the UK. With more than 30,000 assets involved in the project, Airbus intends to gradually extend these sustainable solutions to all its European sites and suppliers.

This reusable packaging will enable Airbus to significantly reduce the quantity of disposable packaging in its supply chain, as well as the number of trucks on the roads, since the use of foldable boxes and containers helps optimise truck loading. This approach coincides with deep transformation in the aviation sector, which requires companies to continually improve their logistics performance while meeting high environmental standards.

Six GEFCO packaging management centres handle the ordering, collection, loading and transport of reusable packaging on a daily basis. Airbus also works with GEFCO’s asset auditing teams to train its operational teams in packaging management and the NETBOX IT system, which tracks the containers and provides delivery updates in real time. Training is also available to Airbus suppliers to support their transition to sustainable packaging.

Steel Giant Signs Up to Transport Visibility Enabler

Posted on 19 November, 201929 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Real-time logistics visibility leader Sixfold has confirmed that industrialist thyssenkrupp Steel Europe will adopt its live shipment sharing platform. The steel supplier will then be able to track inbound transports to its European sites in real-time and improve warehouse productivity.

“With time-critical data on inbound logistics, we will further increase our productivity,” says Jens Fiedler from thyssenkrupp Steel Europe’s logistics department. “Sixfold with its intuitive logistics delivery platform can provide us with such intelligence.”

Sixfold’s CEO Wolfgang Wörner adds: ”Systematic reporting and benchmarking with the help of ETAs helps the world’s biggest companies to better manage their carriers and consequently reduce freight costs by 1–3%. Moreover, visibility helps companies like thyssenkrupp to become more ‘interesting’ customers for carriers, as it helps to reduce wait-times, dwell-times, check-calls, and penalties. Thus, it’s a win-win for shippers and carriers.”

As predictive shipments accelerate, the global value chain will become more complex, relying on advanced algorithms to make supply chains smarter and leaner. Sixfold is defining the new smart logistics era.

thyssenkrupp Steel Europe is a joint customer of Sixfold and Transporeon, Europe’s largest logistics network and used by 1,200 shippers in the manufacturing and retailing industries. Sixfold is the exclusive real-time visibility provider to the network giving real-time visibility on 50,000 shipments each day.

“thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and Transporeon have enjoyed a successful relationship for many years and this has been enhanced by adding the Sixfold platform for real-time visibility of shipments into the equation,” adds Stephan Sieber, CEO of Transporeon. “Customer feedback confirms time and again that Sixfold is the true future of data distribution in the supply chain and we urge all users of the Transporeon network to get ahead and get their carriers onboard.”

Truck Hybrid Refrigeration Allows Diesel to Electric Switch

Posted on 19 November, 201929 July, 2025 by Keith McKinley

Thermo King has introduced a new hybrid refrigeration system designed to lower environmental impact and reduce operating costs of truck transport operations. Enabling the driver to switch from diesel to electric power where necessary, the T-Series Hybrid and UT Hybrid refrigeration systems for trucks, drawbar trailers and high-loaders answer the demand for technologies that give transport companies easier access to restricted, low-emission urban areas while lowering operating costs in the same time.

The new hybrid single- and multi-temperature solution for trucks builds on the SLXi Hybrid trailer systems. Frigoblock alternator and inverter-drive technology allow switching the power of the nose-mount T-Series Hybrid and under-mount UT Hybrid refrigeration units between diesel and electric as required or necessary. This enables the transport companies to operate in inner cities, residential areas and low emission zones with the refrigeration unit’s diesel engine turned off.

To ensure voice of the customer was captured during the development of the new hybrid solution, Thermo King worked with Castell Howell Foods, one of the UK’s leading independent food wholesalers. Since May 2019, Castell Howell has conducted thorough, real-life testing by operating the truck equipped with the Thermo King UT Hybrid Spectrum under-mount refrigeration unit.

“We have been running the hybrid truck six days a week on mixed routes combining motorway and city centre routes with upwards of 30 deliveries a day,” said Martin Jones, director of transport operations at Castell Howell Foods. “With the hybrid mode always on we experienced fuel savings reaching approximately 20 litres of fuel each day, six days a week. It’s a significant mark in the truck’s operational bottom line and we’re really pleased to see how the Thermo King system combines the best of both alternator-driven electric and diesel technologies and how it has worked out in the field.”

The system has been very well accepted by Castell Howell drivers, he says, mainly due to the simple and smooth transition from one technology to the other. The driver only needs to set the vehicle when leaving the depot and the system will switch electric and diesel modes seamlessly during the working day depending on the unit’s requirements.

“During the cooler, autumn days, we didn’t even turn the unit’s engine on. The Thermo King UT Spectrum is a very powerful unit with a very quick pull down. Even in the summer, this significantly reduces the time when the engine is on and gives drivers a degree of flexibility when delivering to residential areas early in the morning,” said Jones.

Dachser in €9.5 Million Öhringen Expansion

Posted on 19 November, 201931 July, 2025 by David Priestman

Construction work has begun to expand Dachser’s Öhringen branch. By summer 2020, the existing transit terminal will be 3,500 square metres larger. A new story will also be added to the office building, increasing its floor space by 600 square metres. Dachser is investing some €9.5 million in the project.

Dachser’s Öhringen branch has been part of the Dachser European network since 2012, and is ideally located on Germany’s A6 motorway, near the Weinsberg junction at Heilbronn. The branch underwent its first major expansion in 2015 with the addition of a warehouse to the existing transit terminal; the new facility offered contract logistics customers roughly 22,000 pallet spaces across more than 15,000 square metres. Now, about four years later, it’s time for the next expansion. Marc-Oliver Bohlender, Branch Manager in Öhringen, explains: “Putting that warehouse into operation back then represented a major step forward. In the years that followed, our tonnage has grown by just under 10 percent annually, so it’s high time to expand our capacity once again.”

The transit terminal, which currently occupies 5,300 square metres, will gain another 3,500. It will also grow from 38 gates to a total of 87. At the same time, a new story will be added to the accompanying office building, increasing its floor space by some 600 square metres. Dachser Öhringen currently has about 230 employees who transport industrial goods all across Europe, processing approximately 57,400 shipments per month for a total of some 302,100 metric tons each year. The expansion of the Öhringen branch will create a total of 25 new jobs.

‘Smart’ Delivery and Distribution Truck Goes Electric

Posted on 19 November, 201929 July, 2025 by Keith McKinley

The smartest distribution truck in the world goes electric – that’s the claim of CX-Liftboxx Spezialfahrzeuge GmbH, from Kleve (Germany), which has introduced its new electrically driven chassis with detachable load boxes.

The Liftboxx is sold worldwide to companies that have flexible regional logistics as their core business, e.g. removal companies, recyclers, distribution companies, hospitals and fire brigades. The Liftboxx consists of a U-shaped front-wheel drive chassis with cabin, with which various types of loading boxes can be picked up and dropped off. Thanks to the built-in hydraulic lifting system, the loading floor can be lowered to street level, for effortless loading and unloading.

From today, Liftboxx is selling the Liftboxx Electric, based on Opel Movano, Fiat Ducato or Renault Master. The traditional diesel engine is replaced by a 345 Volt synchronous engine with 110 kW power and 250 Nm torque, 150 kW water-cooled inverter, traction battery placed under the cab or in the frame (choice of three capacities: 43, 62, or 76 kWh) and a built-in 22 kW charger. Charging is possible both at a fast charging station and at a home charging station. The motor and inverter have a 1 million kilometre warranty, the traction battery is 80% guaranteed for up to 1500 charging cycles or 150,000 km.

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